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Presenting another
wonderful Pabu Custom Balisong

What a wonderful Bowie
blade. The Damascus steel is by Devin ThomasofPanaca, Nevada
who is one of the acknowledged masters of Damascus steel. Damascus
steel is made from two (or more) different alloys of steel. The
pattern is actually part of the metal. It's not painted on or
some sort of surface finish.

Typically, one alloy
is a high-carbon steel and the other is a high-nickel steel. There
are a lot of ways to make Damascus. A simple technique is to start
with sheets of the two alloys, stack them up, heat that up in
a forge or furnace, and then pound the hot sheets together. Very
often, this "sandwich" is then folded and the heating/pounding
process is repeated. The result is many alternating layers of
the two types of steel which are wielded together without being
mixed. On most raw Damascus steel, the pattern is barely visible.
To really bring out the pattern, the finished piece is etched
typically in a mild acid solution (some makers literally use lemon
juice). Such an etching bath causes the high-carbon steel to turn
dark gray to even black, but it causes the high-nickel steel to
become bright silver to even white. The steel alloys to make the
Damascus material and the etching process used to finish it determine
just how dramatic the contrast is. If the etched surface is damaged,
the contrast can be lost. But, it can be quickly restored by re-etching.

There's a lot explanations
around about the benefits or purposes of Damascus steel. There's
probably some truth to a lot of them. But, if the truth be known,
most modern Damascus is for decorative purposes. Oh, depending
on the alloys used, modern Damascus steels can make excellent,
sharp, strong, fully-functional knife blades. But, in just about
all cases, the reason knife collectors pay extra for Damascus
steel is that we like the look of it. And Devin Thomas makes some
of the best-looking Damascus steel there is.

Mr. Thomas is also
just a great guy. If you get a chance to meet him at a knife show
or something, do. He particularly likes to see the knives that
get made from his steel, so bring something to show him. By the
way, Devin has ten brothers. That's amazing in-and-of itself.
But it gets better: Devin is an Eagle Scout... and so are all
ten of his brothers! Eleven Eagle Scouts in one Family! It's the
world's record.

Pabu has been using
Devin Thomas Damascus steel and Mokume-Gane in some of their finest
knives for years now and a special relationship has developed
between Thomas and Pabu.

This blade features
the Pabu Tang Stamp on the front and this unique maker's mark
on the back.

Notice, please, that
both parts of the Chicago-Screw-style pivot pins are Pabu-Made
of Devin Thomas Damascus steel. Who makes their own screws? Pabu
does! In fact, the only parts of this knife which are not scratch-made
are the four phosphor-bronze washers and the small spring in the
latch mechanism.

The eight inserts
are solid Abalone shell also known as Paua. Unfortunately, large
pieces of high-quality solid Abalone shell have become quite rare.
Abalone, like its close cousin Mother of Pearl, is very difficult
to work. It chips and cracks very easily. But, working both Mother
of Pearl and Abalone are specialties of Pabu and they have special
connections to some of the best materials available.

Finished Abalone is
quite harmless. But, there is a myth that Abalone and Mother of
Pearl dusts from cutting and grinding operations are poisonous.
The dust is not poisonous, but it is quite irritating. Some people
are more sensitive to it than others. Some knife makers simply
refuse to work with it at all.

Personally, I find
Mother of Pearl and especially Abalone to be some of the most
beautiful natural materials. Another nice characteristic of both
Abalone and Mother of Pearl is that they are absolutely dimensionally
stable. They do not expand and contract with temperature and humidity
nor do they shrink with age as so many other natural materials
do. As a result, the perfectly-fitted inserts you see in this
knife will remain perfectly-fitted forever. Other than protection
from physical damage, Mother of Pearl and Abalone require no special
care.

The Abalone used in
this knife is solid. When you see large pieces of Abalone these
days, it's often what is called, "reconstructed Abalone."
Reconstructed Abalone is made, literally, by gluing together smaller
pieces. It can be very pretty. However, because of its rarity,
solid Abalone remains most desired by collectors.

The clip is made from
a left-over scrap of Devin Thomas tri-color, raindrop pattern
Mokume-Gane. As Damascus steel, the patterning of Mokume-Gane
is part of the metal; it goes all the way through. As with Damascus
steel, the colors in Mokume-Gane come from the different alloys
that make it up. However, the process to make it is much different.
It's also a very difficult process. There aren't many Mokume-Gane
makers out there and Devin Thomas is unquestionably one of the
best. I'm glad that this material got used because it would be
a crying shame to throw away even a tiny piece of this extraordinary
stuff.

The latch a Pabu-exclusive
L-Latch. The L-Latch design permits the longest possible blade
for the handle length. The latch has a detent and spring mechanism
that holds it straight out when open so that the latch will not
interfere with manipulation.

Notice that the latch
is more of the same Damascus steel. Notice also the nice bits
of extra filework on the clip.

Pabu Knife is a family
operation based in Portland, Oregon. While balisongs are a Pabu
specialty, they offer fixed-blade knives and other edged weapons
especially in the traditional Filipino- and Moro-styles. They
offer conventional folding knives and a variety of other types
of knives. Pabu custom balisongs begin at about $350. A knife
of the sort shown in this exhibit is about $1900; the exotic materials
really run the price up. But, between the beautifully patterned
Abalone, the wonderful Damascus Steel, and the rare tri-color
Mokume-Gane, it's worth it. Balisongs are, in general, exotic
knives... and this one is certain one of the most exotic out there.

Pabu does not have
a website of their own. They have asked me to handle initial inquiries
about Pabu knives for them. If you're interested in commissioning
a Pabu knife, please e-mail me and we can get started. You will
end up working directly with Pabu to finalize all the details.

Contact The Balisong Collector
Himself to begin ordering your own Pabu